Granted
by Henri Jane
Summary: WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Tony finally gets the courage up to go after the one he wants, only to have more complications than he thought possible. Becomes AU somewhere later in the series, but has ties to the show throughout. MAY crossover with other crime shows on occasion. Has mentions of deceased characters; mainly Kate and Jenny. RATING MAY CHANGE. Has other pairings.
1. Prologue

"_Not my style Tony, I would just shoot you." "That would be the reason for rule number twelve." "Rule twelve?" "Never date a coworker."_

* * *

The conversation played through Tony's mind as he watched his co-worker turn and begin to walk away. He grabbed the aforementioned person's hand and spun them to face him. _I'll not make the same mistake again._ He crashed his lips to theirs. Said co-worker pulled back after a moment of shock. "Tony, rule twelve." Tony grunted and mashed their lips together again. This time, there wasn't any resistance, but rather a match in passion and intensity. _Finally._

Tony sighed into his co-worker's mouth when his body randomly tensed up. He reluctantly pulled out of the kiss and turned to come face to face with Gibbs. "I'm not gonna break rules one, four, five, six, and eight just because I plan on breaking rule twelve, Boss." Both co-worker and boss raised an eyebrow, and Tony huffed.

"I won't screw over the team, or my partner. I'm not gonna keep the way I feel a secret anymore, I can't keep something like this from the rest of the team. I'm not wasting a good opportunity to be with the one I love. I won't be apologizing for breaking rule twelve. And I'm definitely not gonna take this for granted!" Tony broke the seriousness of his statement with his toothy, crooked, better-than-thou smirk.

* * *

**AN: I know it's short, but I want reviews. Vote on who you want Tony to be with, and I'll make sure it happens... Not! It's still ultimately my choice. Five reviews before I update, don't be the reason that this becomes a one-shot.**

**NOTE: The italics at the beginning (and often after this, ends) of chapters are the snapshots in the episodes or memories that are being taken into consideration. Italics anywhere else mean someone's thoughts.**

**P.S.: Usual disclaimers obviously apply, last time you'll be noted in this story.**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: For those of you that reviewed about my childishness for demanding reviews before I update, I had a reason. I am actually REALLY busy, and I don't want to waste my time on a story that no one likes or is reading. For those of you that gave positive reviews, thank you. I got a lot of McTony, Tabby, Tibbs, and a LOT of Tiva haters! Anyways, there was one that really stuck out to me, that I'd never pictured myself writing until it was mentioned. So, here goes! Thank you amdelodder for your suggestion!**

**Thank you to poohbear123, Crawcolady, superfanficreader, earthdragon, Loopy, DS2010, and kjsmartie for reviewing!**

**And now, on with your story:**

_Jimmy and Tony were alone at the bar, everyone else had gone home already. Tony had stayed with Jimmy, who honestly needed the drinks to keep him from jumping the other man right then and there. He and Tony had just stumbled out into the chilly night air, or rather, he had stumbled and Tony had supported him. Jimmy shivered in the cold. "Here, take my jacket. I drank just enough to keep me warm, but you seem to've drunk enough to make you cold." Jimmy tried to object, but the warm wool and the smell of Tony stopped the words from coming out. "Now, I'm gonna let you stay at my place tonight, and we'll get cleaned up in the morning so that no one knows, okay. I already told the bartender to keep your car here, and I've got your keys."_

Jimmy stood there in shock. 'Would Tony really... No, he wouldn't have! It isn't in Tony's character.' Though, Jimmy had to admit that it kind of turned him on to think that Tony would do something like that for him... 'No! Bad Jimmy, it wasn't real.' Jimmy shook his head as if to clear the dream from his mind, until two fingers snapped in front of his face. "Palmer!"

'Oh shit, that's Gibbs!' Jimmy Palmer thought. "Y... Yes, sir?" Jimmy shrank back at the waver in his voice. "You okay in there, kid? You were turnin' kinda pale on me." Jimmy blushed at the worried tone of the fearsome leader. "I... I'm okay, Agent Gibbs." Jimmy shrugged. "Got caught up thinking about something."

Gibbs raised one brow, but then decided to let it go. "You and Duck got an E-TOD yet?" Gibbs huffed.

"Umm... Uh.. No. No sir, not yet, Agent Gibbs." Tony walked up right then, and Jimmy wiped his palms on his trousers.

"Palmer, you got anything for us yet? With your stammering around like that, you'd think you were attracted to Gibbs or somethin'." Tony laughed at his own joke, even as Gibbs smacked him on the back of the head. "Right Boss, on it." And with that, he turned around and walked off again. Jimmy looked after the SFA, not realizing he was staring until Gibbs cleared his throat for the second time.

Jimmy shook his head again as he pulled the liver-probe from the dead Navy Lieutenant. "I'd say seven to nine hours, Agent Gibbs, placing this dead Lieutenant being murdered at between 23:00 and 01:00 this morning sir."

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks Palmer." And with that, he strode off, leaving Jimmy with his thoughts and the dead Lieutenant. Jimmy turned to the body. "Well, Lieutenant, what do you suggest I do?"

"I suggest you bag him up, Jimmy." Ziva's voice came from the doorway behind Jimmy, but he didn't even jump. This didn't go unnoticed by the ex-Mossad officer. "Jimmy, are you okay?"

Jimmy sighed. "It gets harder and harder, Zee, it just gets harder and harder." Jimmy leaned into the hand that came to rest on his shoulder briefly before leaning away from it. "I need to let it go. It's just so hard, Zee."

Jimmy stood and began the process of bagging the victim as Ziva stood behind him, watching. "Or, you could just speak to him, yes?" Jimmy raised his eyes to meet Ziva's, though his body never moved. "I will talk to mine, if you will talk to yours." Jimmy's mouth fell open, causing Ziva's laugh to ring out. "If it will help you conquer your fear, I will conquer mine."

"Whatcha scared of, Zee-vah?" Tony said, causing both to go rigid.

"Nothing that is any of your business, Tony." Ziva replied teasingly, though her eyes promised Jimmy that she would always keep his secrets.

Jimmy smiled at her, then turned to Tony. "We're ready for the stretcher." Tony nodded and left. "Thanks Zee, and I'll think about it." He and Ziva both nodded, signaling that they were okay with how the conversation ended.

…...

Back at the morgue, Jimmy was just bagging up a piece of thread that didn't match anything on the victim when the doors slid open. "Gibbs wants you upstairs when he gets out of MTAC." Abby's voice rang out cheerfully. Jimmy turned to see not only Abby, but also Tim and Ziva. "Is that for me? Oh Jimmy, you shouldn't have!" Abby exaggerated as he handed her the thread sample. "We'll take this to my lab, and then we'll be up once we get it started and check on the nine tests I've already got running."

Jimmy nodded as the four of them headed to the lifts, him going up and the other three taking one down. He missed Ducky, the older man being out from his heart attack, but Jimmy also liked the serenity that working alone caused. He got up to the bullpen to see it empty except for Tony, who was sitting at his desk, appearing to be working on a report of some sort. Jimmy walked up and leaned silently on the front of Ziva's desk, waiting for Gibbs.

It had just started to get awkward when Tony's voice came across the short space to him. "So, you and Zee seemed pretty secretive earlier." Jimmy heard the cue, as well as a touch of jealousy in the SFA's voice. He knew Tony liked Ziva, but this seemed to make him accept it for some reason. He sighed and let his shoulders droop in defeat.

"Yes, Tony, we were discussing something personal. To me, not to her. Now, drop it. I don't want to talk about it with you." He took in a steadying breath. "You know, you really should go after her if you like her, at least tell her how you feel."

Jimmy turned to go back down to the morgue. 'Screw Gibbs, he can come to me if he wants to talk,' Jimmy thought as he took a few steps. He was stopped by a firm hand around his bicep. He couldn't quite keep the tremor from going through him. He knew that grip anywhere. Tony turned him back around, and their eyes met before Tony turned him around to face him. Their eyes met, and Jimmy nodded imperceptibly before he felt Tony's lips crash down on his own.

Jimmy pulled back. "Tony. Rule twelve." He had to make sure Tony wasn't just doing this for some stupid reason. He had to make sure Tony actually cared about him. Tony grunted before pulling Jimmy's lips back to his. All Jimmy could think was 'finally,' as the kiss deepened and Tony sighed into his mouth. Jimmy sighed in resentment when Tony pulled out of the kiss, until he saw Agent Gibbs standing behind Tony. "I'm not gonna break rules one, four, five, six, and eight just because I plan on breaking rule twelve, Boss." Jimmy and Gibbs both raised an eyebrow, Gibbs in an unspoken request to explain, and Jimmy in surprise at the man's last comment. 'I plan on breaking rule twelve.'

"I won't screw over the team, or my partner. I'm not gonna keep the way I feel a secret anymore, I can't keep something like this from the rest of the team. I'm not wasting a good opportunity to be with the one I love. I won't be apologizing for breaking rule twelve. And I'm definitely not gonna take this for granted!" Jimmy loved the way Tony broke the seriousness of his statement with his toothy, crooked, better-than-thou smirk.

'Wait, love?!' Jimmy thought, thinking both to Tony's smirk and said person's comment. 'Yeah, love.' Jimmy let out a contented sigh before looking at Gibbs. "I agree wholeheartedly. Ziva suggested I tell Tony how I felt, and somehow Tony beat me to it. I understand the reasoning for your rules, Agent Gibbs, but I think we're all mature enough to bypass rule twelve if we wish, just as long as it doesn't compromise any of the other rules. I hope you agree with me, sir, but honestly, as long as Tony doesn't, I don't really care what you think."

Now, it was Tony's turn to be surprised, both at Jimmy's response and Gibbs' smirk. "Good thing the two of you finally decided to own up ta your feelings. After today, try to keep it out of the building, would ya?" And Gibbs walked off. At the elevator, he turned around. "Now I just gotta go kick McGee and Ziva's asses into shape and ask Abby what she's got, and we'll be good."

**AN: I know the ending for this chapter kinda sucks, but I didn't really know where to go. So, here it is. If you didn't catch on, the previous chapter was Tony's feelings during his and Jimmy's scene towards the end of this one. Please R&R, and thanks for reading! I know this one isn't that long either, but they'll get there, I promise!**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: In the last chapter, Gibbs asked if "Jimmy and Ducky" had the E-TOD yet. Just to clear that up, it was habit, and no one corrected him on it even though Ducky is at this point out from his heart attack. Now, on with the real AN! This chapter is dedicated to cuore-sportivo for being the first to review! (And only one so far.) Umm, I haven't written it yet, but I'd say you're in for some pretty big surprises! So, let's let my evil little demons... I mean plot-bunnies... get to work, shall we?**

_Gibbs's face was set, and he had his phone to his ear as he stepped into Abby's lab. The three agents turned at the tone of Gibbs's voice. They shared a look; this wasn't going to be good. Tim took a step towards his boss when the older man shut his phone, but stopped when a hand was raised. "I need everyone, Abby included, in MTAC in two. Understood? One of you grab Tony and Palmer from the 'pen on your way, I gotta do somethin'." And with that, he turned and left._

Tim looked at the girls quickly. He knew they'd argue, but for Tony, he had to try. "Why don't the two of you head on up? I'll grab the guys and be up in a moment." He didn't even really have to look, he knew Ziva was shaking her head. "I will go, Tim. I need to talk to them both about a matter Annie-ways."

Tim sighed. "Its _any_ways, Ziva, and so do I." When Abby saw Ziva puff up in preparation to argue, she stepped in. "Either both of you go, or I do. We all three probably want to talk about the same thing, so choose. We've only got one point five."

Tim looked to Ziva for a full ten seconds before nodding. "Together then. Abby?" He offered his arm to the goth and motioned for Ziva to proceed them out of the lab. In the elevator, there was silence, all of them pondering the other two's reaction to the possibility of a closer-than-normal Tony and Jimmy. When the elevator doors opened, all three began talking at once, trying to give their two colleagues a moment of warning. They were both surprised and not, when they walked in to the two having their heads together, discussing something seriously.

Ziva stepped forward and cleared her throat loudly. "Guys, we're needed in MTAC in point five." When it sunk in that they only had thirty seconds to make it upstairs, all five of them began an impromptu race to the door, coming to a stop panting with what Ziva and Abby both calculated as five seconds to spare. The door opened just as the five were straightening up.

Gibbs smirked, Leon Vance fighting a smile behind him. "Didja really have to run up the stairs? Ya sounded like a herd a elephants." The two leaders smirked as they motioned the five in and shut the door behind them. Director Vance motioned where everyone should sit as Gibbs spoke to one of the techs. Once everything was figured out, Gibbs and Vance settled into their chairs just as the screen began lighting up. When the light came on, everyone was more than shocked to see none other than Admiral McGee and Dinozzo Sr. sitting together with a much-too-familiar face. Tobias Fornell stared back at the group grimly.

Fornell started with an intake of breath that sounded mysteriously like a sigh. "I wish we were meeting up over better terms, Leon. Jethro, everyone. Unfortunately, that never seems to be the case. We have a problem, and I have ask you to leave the comfort of the city for a bit. We need you down in Boston for a while, one of my personal teams is heading there as we speak, they've been briefed and will fill you in upon your arrival. I need all of you to go, no questions asked. It will all be explained once you get there, we promise."

Leon moved as though to speak, and Dinozzo Sr. cut him off before he could begin. "It's for all of your's saftety. I never thought of myself as a work-with-the-force type, but I'm doing it now. Junior, do as Tobias said. I don't want this to cost you."

Gibbs growled and opened his mouth to retort, but Admiral McGee spoke before he could. "Agent Gibbs, I know you've been the father of this team for quite some time, so I'm directing my question to you. Would you wish for your children to follow someone's orders without them being told anything, unless you wanted to spare them the horrors of knowing what it could cost them otherwise? Because that's all we're doing. Unless there's something you absolutely can't go without, such as medicines or a certain priceless heirloom, pack nothing. Be at the airport at 05:00 tomorrow for your tickets, you will be given further instruction then." And the screen cut to black.

_The team, plus Palmer and Vance, were at the airport with three bags among them at 04:56 the next morning. Gibbs had a tight feeling to his gut, but it wasn't warning him to bail, yet. He made sure to keep a very good lookout, and was shocked to see his own father coming out of the men's head._

**AN: I know, short again, but that's two updates in two days! It'll probably be A LOT slower through the week though, so bare with me. Let me know what you think so far, and if I'm moving too slow or too fast. I'm trying to keep things moving but still give enough detail. Anyway, I'll probably work on the second chapter of my R&I fic next, so this may be a bit coming to you. Anywho, R&R please! I'll try to shout out and PM anyone who does.**


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